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Dickinson, who said painting and drawing are his passions, loved the purposefully amateurish way Ledger's make up was done. So he copied it before heading to the theater, and he wasn't disappointed in the reaction.

"It was freaking amazing," Dickinson said. "It was actually one of the best movies I've ever seen."

"A lot of 'I love you,' 'I love you, I want to sleep with you,' and that sort of stuff," he said. "So that was really cool."

plays the Joker, the twisted and utterly amoral bad guy in the film.

Mankato's crowd, combined with about 3,034 others across the nation, gave "The Dark Night" a box office record for a midnight debut with $18.5 million in sales edging the finale of the "Star Wars" series that earned $16.9 million for it's 2005 opening.

"It was perfect," Fry said. ". Above and beyond what I was expecting. Ledger's acting was haunting, absolutely haunting."

sensation this weekend.

"If you want to get a ticket, I'd come early," said Mehlhoff, manager of the Stadium Cinema 6 theater where "The Dark Knight" is showing on two screens.

Nolan Fry didn't need that recommendation. Thursday.

Mehlhoff said the Friday matinee showings didn't sell out, but the three evening screenings did. In 25 years in the business, she's seen similar reactions to a new movie the "Star Wars" sequels, "Harry Potter," even the first "Batman".

With that much time for anticipation to build, Fry was ripe for disappointment when the film finally began nearly seven hours after he'd arrived. His review?

Regardless, the people streaming out of the theater in the middle of the night seemed to be glad they'd come.

﻿'Knight's night a big one for fans

Fry, a Batman Nike Lunarglide 6 Blue And White fan since he started reading comic books when he was 6 years old, recommends the movie even for non fans. But there's nothing to compare to a packed theater for a midnight debut, he said.